Adjustably disposable filler members for railroad tracks and the like



Sept. 12, 1967 M. HOLTHAUSEN 3,341,123 ADJUSTABLY DISPOSABLE FILLER MEMBERS FOR RAILROAD TRACKS AND THE LIKE Filed June 3, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,6 6 ,6 L:"; 1 L4, 0 "3;. s

WG-2 I 3 2 2 s 2 INVENTOR MATHIAS HOLTHAUSEN BY W ATTORNEY Sept. 12, 1967 M. HOLTHAUSEN 3,341,123

ADJUSTABLY DISPOSABLE FILLER MEMBERS FOR RAILROAD TRACKS AND THE LIKE lNVENTOR MATHIAS HOLTHAUSEN BY 0% W ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,34l,l23 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 3,341,123 ADJUSTABLY DISPOSABLE FILLER MEMBERS FOR RAILROAD TRACKS AND THE LIKE Mathias Holthausen, 2 Humperdinck Strasse, 4 Dusseldorf-Benrath, Germany Filed June 3, 1965, Ser. No.-460,922 1 Claim. (Cl. 2388) This invention relates to fillers to occupy the space between the rails of railroad tracks and the like at street level crossings. The purpose of said invention is to afford a surface at suchcrossings substantially coplanar with the surface of a highway, to facilitate passage thereon of Wheeled street vehicles. For such crossings it is usual to utilize rails and switches with grooves formed therein, or with bars or the like attached thereto which form the grooves to receive the rims of wheels of vehicles riding on said rails, 50 that such rims cannot damage the surface of the street. It is also customary to form the grooves as narrow as possible to present a smoother surface for street vehicles. In present practice said fillers are made from concrete plates which in different ways are fastened to the track and sleepers.

All known kinds of railroad crossings have disadvantages. It is impossible, for instance, with prior practices to construct in the region of a switch, a crossing which forms a good surface for automobiles and trucks and the like. The known kind of concrete plates are not able to stand any lateral pressure of said rims, which pressure occurs when railroad vehicles move around a curving track; they do not protect the track against dirt and mud and it is expensive and time consuming to install them in the right way.

An object of the invention is to provide, on a plate of concrete or the like, laterally disposed reinforcing members capable of protecting said plate from said lateral pressures and to so interconnect said members as to resist movement of said members relative to each other and to said plate, and to further provide means to adjust said tracks, and to provide further means to secure the filler immovably in said position.

Still a further object is to apply interfitting means at the respective ends of the fillers to engage in such a manner as to establish and maintain a coplanar relationship of the successive plates longitudinally thereof.

Another object is to provide upon said reinforcing members a protuberance to overhang and protect movable elements of a switch.

These and various other objects are attained in the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in partial section showing the filler disposed between a pair of rails, and showing a partial filler disposed to one side of one said rail.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in partial section similar to FIG. 1, and illustrating different means of securing said filler in position between said rails, and of adjusting said position between said rails.

FIG. 3 is a partial, vertical, sectional view illustrating a recess beneath the filler to receive a small heating device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective, partial view in partial section, illustrating still another method of securing the filler to a railroad bed.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the construction illustrating various means of establishing the position of the filler between said tracks.

FIG. 6 is-a partial, perspective view in partial section, illustrating means of establishing a substantially coplanar relationship of the upper surface of adjacent fillers, as well as means of accommodating the filler to devices employed to secure the rails in position.

FIG. 7 is a partial, perspective view in partial section illustrating the use of a flat bar of metal welded to one of said reinforcing members whereby said bar may overhang and protect a portion of a switch.

FIG. 8 is a partial, perspective view in partial section illustrating a proposed means of filling in the space between a track and the reinforcing member of the filler.

In these views thereference character 1 designates a substantially rectangular concrete plate which has on each side thereof a reinforcing element 2. An economy may be effected by using worn and discarded rails as reinforcing elements. The outer portion of the bottom flange of the reinforcing element 2 may be recessed as at 12, or completely removed if necessary, to accommodate fastening devices 13 which secure the rail 0 to the sleepers or ties 8, such a recess being clearly shown in FIG. 6.

Pairs of wedges 3 may be used to establish the spacing between the reinforcing elements 2 and the rails 0, and nut and bolt combinations 4 may be used to frictionally engage the opposing faces of said reinforcing elements 2 and said rails 0 to maintain the position of the filler between said rails. An additional, or if desired an alternative, means of securing the filler in position is the 'use of angle iron brackets 22 secured by bolts 23 to the assembled plate 1 and reinforcing elements 2. To establish and maintain in substantially coplanar relationship the surfaces of longitudinally adjacent plates they are intercon nected by dowels 15 and sleeves 14 as seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings.

The side filler 1a lies outside of the track 0, and can be constructed with only one reinforcing member 2 on the side of the rail 0, although two such members may be used if desired. The width of the filler 1a is preferably such that its outer face is flush with the end face of the sleepers 8 to which it is secured by the brackets 10. For this purpose the fillers 1 and 1a may be provided with imbedded studs 11 which secure a bracket 10. The bracket 10 may e secured to bracket 10a, as by nuts and bolts 10b. The bracket 10a may be secured in any desired manner to the end face of the railroad tie 8. Use of the reinforcing side members affords not only a solid connection between such members by welding them together with the connecting rods 5, but also a solid connection with the concrete by use of the anchors 6, which have their butt ends welded to said reinforcing members 2 and their bifurcated ends imbedded in the plates 1. Besides this the members 2 afford the possibility of protecting switches such as 17, by provision, as by welding, of an appropriate lateral extension 16.

The above described construction may be firmly secured in position between the rails 0, and by being so secured would tend to add to the rigidity of the railroad track construction, while the reinforcing members 2 aid in guiding the wheel rims of vehicles traveling on the tracks. In addition to the advantages described for the track of the railway, said fillers give highway traffic a solid, smooth and secure crossing. Shims 7, or the like may be used to vertically adjust the plates to compensate for wear of the rails 0. The groove for the rim is narrow, the upper faces of the fillers lie substantially coplanar with the upper surface of the rail 0. A filling of gravel 20 and tar 21 makes for perfect draining of the region of the crossing or of the switch. A covered pit under a recess 18 of the fillers may receive a heater 9 to keep the crossing and switch free of snow.

The complete filling of the space between the rails with plates, and the use of tar helps to distribute the heat under the plates and resists its escape. For transportation of the fillers, the edge of the members 2 provides a good hold for the hooks of a crane.

What I claim is:

In a railway crossing, the combination with said railway of a filler to be situated between the rails of said railway,

and including a plate of concrete or the like, having respective edges contoured to parallel the respective rails,

one or more wear-resistant reinforcing members disposed along one or more of said edges parallel to said rails, to protect such edges from stresses imposed by railway vehicle wheel rims,

means to interconnect said reinforcing members and said plate to resist relative movement thereof,

means to establish and maintain a substantially coplanar relationship of the upper surfaces of longitudinally adjacent fillers, said means including a socket, and an elongated dowel received in said socket, said socket and said dowel being respectively disposed at the respective abutting end faces of longitudinally abutting fillers,

means to afford precise positioning of the filler between said rails,

means to secure the filler to the ties of the railway,

protective projections carried by said reinforcing members for use at switches to overhang and protect movble, tapering switch rails from damage and wear.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,279,062 9/1918 Winter 238-8 1,539,345 5/1925 Bago 2388 1,703,686 2/1929 Muchnic 2388 1,729,359 9/1929 Price et a1 2388 1,731,301 10/1929 Emmons 23 88 1,743,829 1/1930 Mulvihill 238-8 3,056,555 10/1962 Eisses 238-8 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

